1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of producing liquid pig iron or liquid steel pre-products from iron-oxide-containing material, wherein fine-particulate iron-oxide-containing material is reduced to fine-particulate sponge iron by the fluidized bed method by means of a reducing gas in at least one fluidized bed reduction stage and wherein, furthermore, lumpy ore is reduced to lumpy sponge iron in a fixed bed reduction stage which is structurally separated from the fluidized bed reduction stage, and the sponge iron is charged into a melting-gasifying zone and is molten there under supply of carbon carriers and oxygen-containing gas, wherein a CO-- and H.sub.2 -containing reducing gas is generated for reducing the iron-oxide-containing material, and to a plant for carrying out the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of this kind, by which it is feasible not only to process lumpy ore but also fine ore and which enables great possibilities of varying the amounts of lumpy ore and fine ore being charged in relation to the total amount of ore being charged, is known from WO-A-96/12045. In this method, the fine-particulate sponge iron produced from fine ore is briquetted for greater ease of handling and is further processed in a compact steelworks provided, for instance, with electric furnaces and converters. If necessary, the briquetted sponge iron may also be melted down in the melting-gasifying zone, particularly if surplus energy is available in the melting-gasifying zone.
A disadvantage associated with this method is the briquetting of the fine-particulate sponge iron formed from iron ore, but this is accepted in the method of WO-A-96112045, since the charging into the melting-gasifying zone of fine-particulate sponge iron constitutes a special case that is only put into practice if surplus energy is available in the melting-gasifying zone. Generally, WO-A-96/12045 requires forming briquettes from the fine-particulate sponge iron, which will then be particularly easy to handle for shipment to a compact steelworks.